If we could just learn to shut up…
I recently read a fantastic interview of the Most Reverend Erik Varden, Bishop of Trondheim in Norway. The interview covers a variety of topics from the bishop’s origins as a Trappist monk, to prayer and spirituality, to the state of the Church in Norway. I highly recommend reading the whole thing:
For the purposes of this post there was one part in particular that stood out to me. Bishop Varden is commenting on prayer and says:
Sometimes, if we could learn just to shut up, and to open ourselves attentively, much of what we think of as our great spiritual crisis might actually be resolved.
Yeah, more often than not we just need to learn to shut up. We live and breathe distraction, it seems. The cell phones in our pockets and the endless social media posts provide plenty of ways to distract us. It’s unfortunate how many times I’ve sat down to read or rest, only to find myself scrolling mindlessly through YouTube. Or how about the family at the restaurant looking at their phones and not saying a word to each other or looking each other in the eye? These are just a few examples of things that disproportionately consume our time and attention to the neglect of far more important and worthwhile things.
We could blame technology, social media, and a host of other things for our lack of attentiveness or a host of other social ills. That’s not entirely wrong, though as with many things the truth is more nuanced. I think we often want to be distracted. In another part of the interview, Bishop Varden says that the human being is by nature contemplative. Being contemplative is about having a state of attention through which we can appreciate the whole. Such a state leaves us open to goodness, truth, and beauty. However, we are “addicted to disturbance” says the Bishop. I think he is right.
Silence is hard. Silence is hard because it forces us to think and confront certain truths about ourselves. Sometimes we want to be distracted or “disturbed” to avoid asking the deeper questions or dealing with the parts of ourselves we don’t like or are not proud of. Immersing ourselves in endless distraction keeps us from hearing the voice of God. Distracting ourselves doesn’t get rid of the deeper problems. Pretending you are not sick doesn’t make the sickness go away. It just means you won’t get the treatment you need and therefore will get worse. Likewise, we can distract ourselves from the deeper questions of life, we can try to ignore the effects of our sins, but they are still there.
My first real introduction to silence was on a weekend retreat to a Trappist monastery when I was in college. It’s hard to describe the silence. It was almost tangible in a way. At first, it was hard. I hated the first day especially. Suddenly dropping all the distractions is like an addict dropping his favorite drug. But after a while the silence actually has a freeing quality about it. When the heart and mind are no longer encumbered by disturbances, they are free to hear the Lord speaking. Yes, the questions and the wounds will be unmasked. That’s a good thing. What is revealed can be addressed in prayer and healed by God’s mercy. I was sorely tempted to leave the monastery by the end of the first day. I thank God that I didn’t run away. My experience that weekend gave me the final kick in the butt I needed to apply to the seminary.
Bishop Varden is right. Sometimes, if we could learn just to shut up, and to open ourselves attentively, much of what we think of as our great spiritual crisis might actually be resolved.
Image from http://www.mountsaintbernard.org/, Bishop Varden’s home monastery.
